Elon Musk’s private space company SpaceX still rated the test as a success. The technology billionaire is already planning the next attempt. “Congratulations to the SpaceX team for an exciting Starship test launch!” he wrote on Twitter. “We have learned a lot for the next test start in a few months.” In the video you can see the launch and the explosion:
The largest and most powerful rocket ever built took off as planned from SpaceX’s Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. A little more than three minutes after the start, the 120 meter high rocket started to roll and exploded. At this point, the first stage of propulsion, called “Super Heavy”, should have separated from the space shuttle.
SpaceX emphasizes: “Rocket successfully lifted off”
SpaceX spoke of a “rapid unplanned breakup prior to stage separation.” SpaceX engineer Kate Tice said the rocket successfully took off from the launch pad. This is what SpaceX was hoping for. Musk himself had spoken of a “very risky flight” in the run-up to the test flight: “If we can get far enough from the launch pad before something goes wrong, then I think I would consider that a success. You just don’t want it to explode on the launch pad. “
“As if the flight test wasn’t exciting enough, there was a rapid, unplanned breakup of the ‘Starship’ prior to stage separation,” SpaceX tweeted immediately after the explosion. “In a test like this, success depends on what we learn, and today’s test will help us improve the reliability of ‘Starship’,” it said. The team will now evaluate the test data extensively and work towards the next test start.
The head of the US space agency NASA, Bill Nelson, also congratulated. “Every great achievement in history has taken some calculated risk, because with great risk comes great rewards. We look forward to all that SpaceX learns about the next launch attempt – and beyond.”
Praise also came from the other side of the Atlantic: “Congratulations,” wrote Josef Aschbacher, Director General of the European Space Agency ESA, on Twitter. “An impressive move.” German astronaut Alexander Gerst wrote of a “significant event for the future of space exploration”. “Starship” will take people far into space and onto the moon. “In order to remain at the table of the space nations, we Europeans also need a space transport system for people!”
Bild: HANDOUT (SPACEX)
“Starship” was initially lifted off the ground on Thursday in Brownsville, Texas, with a lot of fire and smoke. A few minutes later – shortly before the two rocket stages separated – the live images showed how the rocket system began to tumble and finally broke up with fire. Actually, the test should have lasted about 90 minutes and ended with the landing of both stages.
“Starship” – consisting of the approximately 70-meter-long “Super Heavy” booster and the approximately 50-meter-long upper stage, also called “Starship”, is intended to enable manned missions to the moon and Mars. The first test launch was scheduled for Monday, but was pushed back to Thursday due to a problem with a valve.
The “Starship” system is designed in such a way that the spaceship and rocket can be reused after returning to earth. The upper stage had already been tested on its own several times, but this was the first combined flight test of the entire missile system.
The system, which is around 120 meters long in total, should be able to transport well over 100 tons of cargo in the future. The rocket is powered by 33 “Raptor” engines that run on liquid methane and liquid oxygen. The system should be able to be refueled in space. With the SpaceX “Starship”, the US space agency NASA wants to bring astronauts to the moon. SpaceX hopes to one day get to Mars.
